Method of producing waterproof, form-retaining articles, as hats, from textile goods



Patented June 20, 1939 PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF PRODUCING WATERPROOF, FORM-RETAINING ARTICLES, AS HATS, FROM TEXTILE. GOODS Hans Siber, Zurich, Switzerland, assignor to the firm Grieder & Cie, Zurich, Switzerland N Drawing. Application March 9, 1937, Serial No. 129,963. In Germany April 25, 1936 Claims.- (Cl. 15 4--2) This invention relates to 'a method" of produce ing waterproof, form-retaining articles having) three dimensions, suchas hats, from knitted fabrics or other fabrics having 'sufficient extensi- 5 bility and flexibility to assume the desired form. Preferably the fabric should be of such open structure as to bequite permeable to air.

. The method according to the invention is applied with particular advantage to light weight, knitted or hooked fabrics of loose texture, lighter thanfelt, and having no inherent support of their own, which, heretofore, could not be used in manufacturing gentlemens hats in special or normal shapes, like felt hats, because evenif treated with the best finish, they were too light and did not offer enough consistency and wearing qualities for this purpose, especially if subjected to occasional heavy rains. The expensive type of straw hat, though being more'resistant than a hat made of knit fabric, also cannot stand rain for hours without becoming deformed-and this fact besides also the disadvantage of its rigidity, may account for its steadily decreasing marketability. Most people who wear raincoats 25 nowadays, instead of using umbrellas, wear an inexpensive light, hygienic and comfortable headwear, whichwill not be affected by unexpected showers, such headwear thus being a highly desirable article. Hats and other articles which are made by the method according to the present invention will stand any rain.

The present method resides in using a fabric having the above-mentioned characteristics of lightness, flexibility and porosity such as knitted,

woven fabrics, capable of extension, made of yarns containing, in addition to usual textile threads, also an organic derivative of cellulose by intertwining or spinning togetheror' otherwise combining such cellulose derivative strands with said ordinary strand material and forming the goods into the desiredthree dimensional shape and, after the shaping, applying a solvent for the cellulose derivative, whereby the formed or.

plaited or hook fabrics and certain types of possible by either the submersion in or the sprayf ing on of a sizing agent.

1 The combining of the textile threads with the cellulose ester strands, includes also the possibility of suitably incorporating these strands in the goods independently of one another. If the cellulose derivative is applied to the surface of the combined yarns, at all points or junctions ofintercrossing and contacting of these yarns and true to form after the shaping and subsequent treating with a solvent, due to the fact, that the meshes are fixed in their final mutual positions by water-insoluble connections.

A sizing, when applied, is, on the contrary, in most cases weakest at the points where it should be most effective for maintaining the shape of the article, namely, at the points where the constituent yarns contact with each other. When a diluted sizing is used, the durability of very light porous hats is questionable from the start and at the points of intercrossing only weak connections are likely to form. If, on the other hand, a sizing of heavy consistency is applied, the hat presents an aspect as if it were lacquered, whilst at the points of intercrossing of the constituent yarns nevertheless only a weak connection is formed on account of the heavy or thick sizing having the least access to said points, where the yarns bear against one another.

The method according to the invention has the highly desirable advantage of producing hats of a pleasing aspect. Since the stiffness is caused by means of the yarns themselves no perceptible material is incorporated in the goods.

This method is applicable with particular advantage to light single layer hats which,- in consequence of their porous nature, require special care in finishing.

It will be readily understood that also two layers can be applied in which case it is advantageous to use textile material the constituent yarns of which are provided with a cellulose ester on the outside thereof. In such cases, the two fabric layers can be united by thesame solvent and in course of the same procedure as is rea quired for stiffening the material. Hat margins turned down on themselves need no longer be secured by sewing. The difference between a sizing treatment and the method according to the present invention consists in the fact that in the tions mentioned.

latter no soft or weak points can arise in the finish for the reason that the cellulose stiffener is applied entirely uniformly and continuously in the form of yarn in a degree which could never be attained with the aid of a sizing treatment.

If it is desired to give the hat a woolen aspect and feel, only part of the textile yarns are intertwined or spun together with cellulose derivative strands and are so arranged as to be covered by the woolen yarns.

The proportion of the number of combined yarns to the number of plain yarns, that is yarns consisting of one and the same textile material, may be chosen so as to just sufilce to render the goods resistive against water. Moreover, the cellulose derivative strands may be arranged in the interior of the combined yarns. Further the combined yarns may be inserted in a finished fabric of ordinary textile yarns at any stage in the course of manufacture of the shaped article, which cellulose derivative strands form, after having been treated with the solvent, the supporting structure of the article.

As regards fancy or plain knitted or else hooked or other kinds of loose goods, the method according to the invention has the great merit that the goods can be applied with particular advantages to many more practical purposes than was hitherto possible. The more the material is stretched during the molding, that is, the more the meshes are tautened, the more intimate and durable the desired connections will be at the points or junc- Thus, in a very advantageous way, a minimum consumption of material is required, while maximum durability is obtained.

Such a hat retains its original shape and size in spite of its porosity, in any weather, without resorting to the use of seams, bands, supports or the like. The stiffness will not be altered by effect of perspiration, provided that the cellulose ester used is cellulose acetate, since perspiration has no dissolving effect on this material. A further advantage resides in the fact that the necessity for sewing down the border to the margin of the hat is done away with. The border is simply coated with a solvent, whereupon the two layers unite in a water-insoluble manner.

By virtue of the method according to the invention seamless hats or other articles that remain true to form in any weather and are not affected in this respect by perspiration can be manufactured from a piece of light, porous goods which, as such, originally has no inherent stifiness.

Such a'hat distinguishes favorably from a straw hat in that it may be finished in a pliable condition and by its adaptability to the configuration of any head, by the possibility of maldng it in any desired shape or shade, and last but not least by its washability.

I claim:

1. In a method of producing form-retaining, light weight, air pervious, three-dimensionally shaped articles; resistant to water, from a single layer of very light, open-mesh, knitted fabric of extensible structure, the steps comprising taking an extensible knitted fabric formed of compound yarns consisting essentially of strands of two substantially non-extensible substances, one of said substances being an organic cellulose ester insoluble in water and the other one being an ordinary textile fiber, the said strands being combined so as to form compound yarns which will not stretch when the cellulose ester is in adhesive condition, forming an article from said fabric by first stretching the fabric intothe desired shape'while cold and whilcthe cellulose ester is in non-plastic condition without exceeding the inherent extensibility of the fabric and thereby pulling its compound yarns into tautened condition so as to form contacting junctions between the yarns strongly.

pressed together, and after the shaping treating the shaped fabric with a solvent for the cellulose ester in which the other fiber is not soluble so as to render the cellulose ester adhesive and to cause the compound yarns to become strongly secured together at the said contacting junctions and to permanently fix and stifien the fabric structure in its ultimate shape without impairing its po; osity.

2. In a method of producing form-retaining, light weight, air pervious, three-dimensionally shaped articles, resistant to water, from a single layer of very light, open-mesh, knitted textile fabric of extensible structure, the steps comprising taking an extensible knitted fabric formed of compound yarns consisting essentially of strands of two substantially non-extensible substances, one of said substances being cellulose acetate and the other being ordinary textile fiber, the said strands being combined so as to form compound yarns which will not elongate when the cellulose acetate is in adhesive condition, shaping an article in three dimensions from said fabric by stretching the fabric into the desired form while cold and while the cellulose acetate is in nonplastic condition, without exceeding the inherent extensibility of the fabric and thereby pulling its compound yarns into tautened condition so as to form strongly pressed junctions between the yarns and between the several strands of the yarns, and then treating the shaped article with a solvent for cellulose acetate in which the other substance is insoluble so as to render the cellulose acetate adhesive and to cause the compound yarns to become strongly secured together at the said contacting junctions and to permanently fix and stiffen the fabric structure in its ultimate shape without impairing its porosity while becoming resistant to the efiect of water and perspiration. 3. In a method of producing form-retaining, air pervious, three-dimensionally shaped articles, resistant to water, from a double layer of very light, open-mesh, knitted textile fabrlc, the steps comprising taking a double, layer of a light weight, knitted fabric formed of compound yarns consisting essentially of strands of two substantially non-extensible substances, one of said substances being cellulose acetate and the other substance being an ordinary textile fiber, the strands being combined so as to form compound yarns which'will not stretch when the cellulose acetate is in adhesive condition, forming an article from the double layer of fabric by first stretching the fabric into the desired shape while cold, and while the cellulose acetate is in non-plastic condition, without exceeding the inherent extensibility of the fabric and thereby pulling its compound yarns into tautened condition so as to coming resistant to the effect of water. and perspiration.

4. In a method of producing form-retaining, light weight, air pervio three-dimensionally shaped articles, resistant to water, from a single layer of very light, open-mesh, knitted textile fabric of extensible structure, the steps comprising taking an extensible knitted fabric containing woolen yarns and compound yarns consisting essentially of strands of wool and cellulose acetate, the said strands being combined so as to form compound yarns which will not stretch when the cellulose acetate is in adhesive condition, shaping an article in three dimensions from said fabric by stretching the fabric into the desired shape while cold and while the cellulose acetate is in nonplastic condition, without exceeding the inherent extensibility of the fabric and thereby pulling the woolen yarns and the compound yarns into taut condition so as to form contacting junctions between the yarns and between the strands of the compound yarns strongly pressed together, and then treating the shaped article with a solvent for the cellulose acetate in which the wool is not soluble so as to render the cellulose acetate adhesive and to cause the compound yarns to become strongly secured together at the said contacting junctions, and to permanently fix and stiffen the fabric structure in its ultimate shape without impairing its porosity or altering its woolen aspect or feel, and to render the fabric resistant to the effect of water and perspiration.

5. In a method of producing form-retaining, light weight, air pervious, three-dimensionally shaped articles, resistant to water, from a single layer of very light, open-mesh, knitted textile fabric of extensible structure, the steps comprising taking an extensible knitted fabric formed of an ordinary textile fiber, inserting in said fabric yarns composed of strands of cellulose acetate and strands of ordinary textile fiber, the said strands being combined in the compound yarns so that the compound yarns will not stretch when the cellulose acetate is in adhesive condition, shaping an article in three dimensions from said fabric by stretching the fabric into the desired shape while cold and while the cellulose acetate is in non-plastic condition, without exceeding the inherent extensibility of the fabric and thereby pulling the ordinary yarns and the compound yarns into taut condition so as to form contacting junctions between the yarns and between the strands of the compound yarns strongly pressed together, and then treating the shaped article with a solvent for the cellulose acetate in which the ordinary textile fiber is not soluble so as to render the cellulose acetate adhesive and to 

